Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 68.42
Liaison Austin Sutherland
Submission Date Feb. 18, 2025

STARS v2.2

University of Pennsylvania
OP-16: Commute Modal Split

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 4.39 / 5.00
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Total full-time equivalent student enrollment:
25,106

Full-time equivalent of employees:
18,101

Part 1. Student commute modal split

Has the institution gathered data about student commuting behavior?:
Yes

Total percentage of students that use more sustainable commuting options as their primary mode of transportation:
99

A brief description of the method(s) used to gather data about student commuting:
The total percentage of students using sustainable transportation is determined by the number of students purchasing parking permits through the university. Because legal daily street parking in the Penn environs is minimal, the assumption is that students not buying parking permits are either walking, biking, or taking public transit to campus. Penn is a dense urban campus with many available nearby rental apartments. Most students do not bring cars to campus.
 
Penn emphasizes to students that they do not need a personal vehicle at Penn to encourage walking, biking, and mass transit use. In response, we have fewer than 125 students annually with assigned parking.

Part 2. Employee commute modal split

Has the institution gathered data about employee commuting behavior?:
Yes

Total percentage of employees that use more sustainable commuting options as their primary mode of transportation:
72.40

A brief description of the method(s) used to gather data about employee commuting:

In February and March of 2023, PennPraxis and the Center for Safe Mobility deployed an employee travel survey on behalf of The Sustainability Office of the University of Pennsylvania Division of Facilities and Real Estate Services (FRES) and Business Services Division (BSD). The survey collected information about employee travel patterns and attitudes. It was designed to allow FRES and its University partners to work towards decreasing the University’s carbon footprint using incentives to promote lower-carbon travel.


Optional Fields 

Percentage of students and employees that use the following as their primary mode of transportation:
Percentage of students (0-100) Percentage of employees (0-100)
Single-occupancy vehicle 1 27.60
Zero-emissions vehicle --- ---
Walk, cycle, or other non-motorized mode --- 18.30
Vanpool or carpool --- 2
Public transport or campus shuttle --- 44.60
Motorcycle, motorized scooter/bike, or moped --- ---
Distance education / telecommute --- 27.20

Website URL where information about student or employee commuting is available:
https://www.sustainability.upenn.edu/sites/default/files/2024-05/Penn%20Commuter%20Survey%202023%20FINAL.pdf

Additional documentation to support the submission:
---

Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
---

The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.